Last Words
by GatherYeRosebuds
Summary: Sequel to 'The Promise Broken'. Lexiss may have let him go, but that doesn't mean she didn't want him to stay. And that most certainly doesn't mean she doesn't miss him, and doesn't want to make sure he's okay. Rated for minor language.
1. Chapter 11

**Whereas the final chapter in **_The Promise Broken_** was my longest chapter yet, this is my shortest. My, how things like that work out. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the new chapter, and I love attention, so please review!**

**- - - - -**

_Chapter 1_

She dived behind a scorched and broken slab of concrete that was miraculously still standing, and threw her back up against it, breathing heavily and waving a hand in front of her face to try and clear some air. She pulled some of her jaw-length hair away from her face, and turned to Rogue, who was at her shoulder.

"I can't see a thing," she shouted to her over the din.

Rogue had one hand over her nose and mouth. "I can't smell anything except sulfur," she coughed.

"MOVE!!" she suddenly yelled, pushing Rogue away. Rogue fell forward and rolled instinctively. She turned back and threw her arms up above her, blocking the flaming rubble from falling down on her with an invisible force field. With a grunt, she pushed it off to her right. Once the pressure was gone, she exhaled, breathing heavily just slightly.

"Lex! Rogue! Get over here!" Piotr yelled. Lexiss lifted her head up over the cement wall.

"Where are you?" she yelled into her earpiece, scanning the wrecked ground behind her. There was another explosion somewhere close behind her. Rogue screamed. A flash off to her left caught her eye. "Got it," she said. "Come on, Rogue."

Crouching, she ran forward, Rogue following behind. An explosion close to her feet threw Lexiss over the wall. Piotr caught her, but perhaps landing on the ground might have been less painful. He reverted back to his normal skin as he set her on her feet. She rubbed her arched back.

"Sorry," he said.

"Don't worry about it," she replied.

"Missiles!" Rogue yelled. Piotr put his hand on both of their heads and changed his skin, covering Lexiss' and Rogue's skin as well. The missile landed close to them and exploded, casting stone and steel in every direction. Lexiss closed her eyes, and Piotr pulled his hands away. Her skin turned back to normal, and she shivered.

"I'll never get used to that," she said.

"LEXISS!" Ororo said. Her shout came crackled through her earpiece.

"Bobby!" Rogue gasped, looking in the opposite direction. Lexiss looked down at Piotr as she stood.

"I'll watch her," Piotr said. She nodded, and started running.

"Ororo!" she yelled into her earpiece. "ORORO!!" Her earpiece just cackled. "Logan! Kitty! Anyone!"

Frowning, she pulled her earpiece out of her ear. "Dammit," she swore, throwing it on the ground. It was completely fried. Her force field must have wrecked it. She hadn't thought of that. She remembered Ororo saying they were sensitive. She spun around, looking for someone of her team. She saw no one.

A giant stream of fire came sailing through the air. Lexiss generated a large ball of water in her hands and shot it at up to the fire. Sparks rained down on top of her head.

Wherever that had come from, it wasn't from the burning wreckage. She held water in her hands, and stepped forward cautiously. A hot wind began to blow, and some of the thick, pungent, black smoke began to clear away. Her breath caught in her throat, and she stopped.

"J-John?" she whispered.

It was him. He stood amongst the wrecked buildings and streets, a little taller than she had seen him last, his hair a little longer, but there was no mistaking that _it was him_.

He smiled a little; actually, it was more like a smirk. Lexiss faintly thought she heard her name being called. She ignored it, and started walking slowly forward. Her arms dropped to her sides; the water fell to the ground with a sizzle and dripped off her fingertips. A single tear ran down her cheek.

"You're back," she said softly. He nodded.

"LEX!!" That was Rogue's voice. She wasn't listening. She was only a few feet away from John now.

Suddenly, his normal expression – the one she remembered – was gone underneath a twisted scowl. A large blast of fire shot up from his lighter into his hand, and then he threw it at Lexiss. She remained paralyzed on the spot, disbelieving.

"LEXISS!!!" Rogue yelled as she went down.

Lexiss knew every visible spot of skin on her body was burnt and blackened, and her red-lined black suit was scorched badly. She gasped, and cried out; her burnt face and neck hurt so much she wanted to never stop screaming.

The feeling almost immediately started to fade, however. Her body started healing itself right away. It was an automatic thing, now. She never had to think about it anymore. Flesh wounds were especially easy.

Lexiss sat up. All the holograms in the Danger Room started to fade away. She watched in horror as John began to disappear as well; he seemed to be made of nothing but blue fiber optics. She sat up, staring at where he – or rather, the hologram - had been standing moments ago. She thought she might throw up.

Rogue ran to her side as she raised a shaky hand to point to where he had been standing. "I know, I saw him," she hushed, holding her face in her gloved hands so she could see if she were hurt.

"Lexiss, are you alright?" Ororo asked, appearing from no where.

Lexiss could sense, Bobby, Kitty, Piotr, and Logan standing behind her. Rogue stepped back, glaring at Storm's back as she did so.

"Lex!" Ororo said urgently. Lexiss started breathing through clenched teeth, her arm and fist shaking. She wanted to punch her pretty little face in. Lexiss knew she had been the one to set the course. She had watched Ororo do it, although apparently not closely enough.

Lexiss stood up, ignoring her and everyone else. She bit the fingertips of her black gloves and pulled them off, throwing them carelessly on the floor as she stormed to the doors. They opened and then slid closed behind her.

Everyone stared wonderingly after her, except Rogue. She stood glaring at Ororo. "How dare you do that to her?" she asked darkly. Ororo's mouth hung open slightly, and then she rushed after Lexiss. Kitty, Bobby, Logan, and Piotr all looked to Rogue for an explanation. The doors closed again.

"She saw John," Rogue said stonily with a pinched expression.

Kitty's jaw dropped, and Bobby's and Piotr's eyebrows shot up. Logan retracted his claws and stomped towards the door. Everyone followed him.

"Lex!" Ororo called, chasing after her. "LEXISS!!" she said, catching up and catching her elbow. Lexiss wrenched it away and whirled on her.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled at her, putting her hands behind her neck. Tears were freely spilling over and down her cheeks.

"Baby," Ororo said comfortingly.

"Shut up, just shut up!" Lexiss screeched, pushing her hands away and backing into a wall. "Get away from me!" she sobbed as the others turned the corner and stopped. She leaned against the wall, crying, shaking, and trying to wipe away all the tears at the same time. Bobby put an arm around Rogue's shoulders. She stiffened just slightly, but didn't pull away.

Ororo's eyes narrowed. "You will not speak to me in that tone of voice," she said. Lexiss ignored her. "Answer me, girl," Ororo said, her voice growing louder.

"Storm…" Logan said warningly. Lexiss stood up, still crying, hands shaking so violently that wiping her tears away was now impossible.

"I hate you," Lexiss whispered to her, voice hoarse. Ororo stepped back, shocked. Good. She wasn't lying. "I HATE YOU!!"

Lexiss, racked by a fresh round of sobs, turned and ran towards the end of the hall, and, taking a page out of Kitty's book, ran through the wall she found there.

Logan stepped up to Ororo's back. "You went too far," he said deeply.

**- - - - -**

"Professor," Logan said as he pushed into Professor Xavier's study.

"Yes?" he answered almost immediately. He was seated by the window, gazing out across the yard, and at the students below.

"I need you to find Lex. She ran off during our Danger Room session," Logan replied. Xavier's brows furrowed. "Seems Storm put John into the program and Lex saw him," Logan continued. His voice carried a slightly angry undertone.

"Pyro?" the professor asked. Logan nodded.

"Needless to say, she was a little upset about it. I haven't been able to find her."

Professor Xavier closed his eyes, concentrating. In a few moments, he opened them again. "As far as I can tell, she hasn't left the grounds. She's in the mansion still, somewhere. She's blocking her mind, though. I can't get a proper read on her."

Logan shook his head, turning for the door. "Sometimes I wish you hadn't taught her how to do that," he said over his shoulder as he pulled open the door.

He stopped; Storm, eyes downcast, stood just behind it. "She's probably upstairs in his room," she said quietly. Logan glared down at her slightly and then pushed past her, jarring her shoulder roughly.

When he had passed, she stepped into the doorway. "May I speak to you, Professor?" she asked.

"Of course, Storm. Come in." She stepped into the doorway and closed the door behind her. "Logan says something happened during your Danger Room session today?" Xavier asked. Storm took a seat on the small black leather couch against the right wall.

"Yes," she answered with a heavy sigh. "When I programmed the course, I added a Pyro simulation to the other normal features. I wanted to see how the students would react if they saw it, Lexiss especially, so I didn't tell them about it. As it turns out, Lex was the one who did see it, and if she didn't have healing abilities, she'd probably be dead right now." She sighed. "Her reaction was more than I could have ever expected."

Xavier nodded. "I see," he said. He turned his wheelchair away from the window. "This is indeed a very good idea, Storm, but perhaps you should have told the students about it. Lexiss was very attached to John, and perhaps not being forewarned threw her off. She knows very well John has joined with Magneto, and will most likely be at his side in battle."

Storm nodded. "I see that now," she said. The professor continued.

"I believe she's taken her loss even greater that Scott has taken his, even though she's been able to hide it and pretend to return to semi-normalcy, unlike Scott. Scott had Jean for a very long time, and had that extra time to spend with her. While, for him, that may make Jean's death hard, Lexiss, was with Pyro for only a matter of months, and he chose to leave. They were very much alike, Lexiss, and John, and I suppose John, who became emotionally harder than Lexiss throughout the years, became her pillar of strength, so to speak. Do you understand?"

Storm nodded, and stood up. "Thank you, Professor," she said with a slight, relieved smile.

"Perhaps you should go talk to her," Xavier said, stopping Storm with her hand on the doorknob.

She shook her head, her back to him. "I think I'll leave her. For now, anyway."

**- - - - -**

Logan pushed the door open, and stuck his head into the room. He made a sweep of the small bedroom.

It was a complete mess. Clothes were all over the floor, the dresser and night stand were loaded with change, deodorant, shampoo, and papers, and the bed was unmade. He didn't see Lexiss, but his sensitive ears suddenly heard a small sniff from the far side of the room. Pushing the door inward, Logan stepped into the room, and carefully picked his way across the carpet.

He peered over the side of the bed, and saw Lexiss sitting on the floor with her back against the bed, legs bent, a dark red shirt draped over her knees and held in her hands. She was still dressed in her uniform, several holes and partial burns in it.

"Hey kid," he said.

Startled, Lexiss' head snapped around and upwards. Seeing Logan, she quickly looked back down and started wiping her face. It was useless; even if she could stop the slow, steady trickle of tears, her eyes were swollen and her face was red and blotchy.

Logan stepped around the corner of the bed, and sat on the floor next to her. "It's a mess in here," he said, looking around.

"Everything's exactly how he left it," she sniffed, glancing at Logan. She lifted the shirt in her lap. "Well, everything except this," she added. She smiled a little pathetically, and laughed thickly. "It still smells like him." She looked back down at the shirt.

"You know," she finally said, "most of me knew that it wasn't really him. That it was just a simulation. But… I just really wanted to believe that he had come back."

Logan looked at her. "You really miss him, don't you?" he asked.

Lexiss didn't answer right away. She picked at a loose string at the collar, fiddled with the sleeve. When she finally did answer, she broke down, crying into her knees and John's shirt.

"Yes!" she cried loudly, sobbing brokenly. She felt Logan put his arm around her and pull her into his shoulder in a comforting way, resting his chin on the top of her head. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he allowed her to cry into his shirt. He didn't say anything, and neither did she, but she was reassured all the same.

She stayed that way for a little while, until she finally ran out of tears and sat up, sniffing and wiping her eyes some more. "You goin' to be OK, kid?" Logan asked.

She nodded. "I think so," she said.

Logan pointed to the holes in her suit as he helped her to her feet. She carefully put John's burgundy shirt back in the pile she had found it in. "What're you going to do about that? I hear Storm's pretty good with a needle and thread," he said.

Lexiss gave him a resentful look. "I'll take it to Lizzie; she can generate any kind of material. Or I could do it myself. I don't need Storm to do anything for me," she said, walking past him.

"Since when do you call her Storm?" Logan asked himself, following her out of the room and closing the door.

**- - - - -**

Lexiss stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had come to her own room, changed into sneakers, jeans, a tank top, and her favorite black zippered hoodie. She slowly smoothed back her hair, taking long, calming breaths.

In the mirror, she could see the reflected image of her burnt suit stretched across her bed. Rubbing her face with her hands, she turned and walked to her bed. With a sigh, she sat, and took her suit in her hands. Finding every hole or scorch mark and mending it took about fifteen minutes. When she was finished, she pushed the suit to the end of her bed, and then laid with her head on her pillow and curled up on her side, facing her nightstand.

She studied the pictures standing there. There was a formal picture of Bobby and Rogue there, Bobby in a tux and red tie and Rogue in a long-sleeved black dress with her hair done up with a scattering of red beads. Lexiss had done that for her, she remembered. There was another of her and Rogue playing together on one of the tire swings behind the mansion during the fall, after Logan had left. The biggest framed photo was of her sister, Trisha.

Lexiss reached for a fourth frame, however, one that had been set facedown and turned away. That's the one she picked up. Rolling onto her back, she held the picture above her face. It used to be one of her favorites. She didn't know how she felt about it anymore.

It was of Lexiss and John, in one of the few pictures she had of him. In the photo, John was carrying her on his back down the main staircase to the ground floor of the mansion. His arms were back around her knees, and hers were around his neck. They were both laughing.

There was a knock at her door, causing her to jump slightly. She quickly placed the photo back in its original position on her nightstand, and said, "Come in," in a rather calm voice.

It was Rogue who poked her head into her room. "Hey," she said quietly, coming in and closing the door behind her. "How're you doing?"

Lexiss groaned, putting her arms over her face. "I'm not exactly having the best day, here," she replied.

"Mmm."

Lexiss lifted her elbow to look at her. "What about you? You alright?" she asked.

Rogue sighed. "I saw… I thought I saw," she corrected, "Bobby and Kitty…" She shook her head and smiled nervously. "I'm imagining things, right?" Lexiss sat up, and rested a hand on Rogue's covered shoulder.

"You're imagining things," she said. "Bobby's been in love with you since Day One."

With a moan, Rogue flopped backward so her head was hanging off the side of the bed. "But… he can touch her," she said. Lexiss frowned.

"Hey-"

She was cut off by three knocks at her bedroom door. It opened, and this time Bobby stuck his head inside. "Hi," he said to Lexiss. She waved a little.

Bobby looked at Rogue. "Can we talk?"

Rogue sat up and got off Lexiss' bed. "I'll see you later, alright?"

She nodded, and Rogue left. Lexiss fell back onto her bed, and took up the picture again.

**- - - - -**

**Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	2. Chapter 12

**Hello, everyone. This posting is a little late, but I've been mega busy lately. My school drama club just put on **_Beauty and the Beast_**, and I was the lighting operator for the production, so I've been especially busy the last two weeks with all the dress rehearsals and whatnot. But, today was the final performance, so I get a little time to chill before the next show. Whew! So, I hope you all enjoy the next chapter.**

**- - - - -**

Lexiss took her time going downstairs to see the professor the next morning. She was contemplating asking him to use Cerebro to try and locate John; Kurt wasn't having any luck, and he had been looking for the past two months. He had traced him to the west coast, most likely Nevada or California, but that was as specific as it had gotten. Magneto had gotten quite good at covering his tracks.

She stopped outside of the door to his study, and stared at it for a moment. Then, with a heavy sigh, she raised her arm, and knocked three times. She waited for a moment, and knocked again. No on answered, so, puzzled, she opened the door and stepped halfway into the study.

The professor wasn't inside; instead, there was a very tall, very broad, blue-skinned-and-haired mutant dressed in a dark, fancy-looking suit. He turned to look at her, and Lexiss averted meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said, starting to back out of the room. The man blinked and took a step forward.

"Are you here to see Professor Xavier, my dear?" he asked. Lexiss nodded slowly.

"Yes… are you?" she asked suspiciously. The man laughed a booming laugh.

"Why, of course! Why else would I be here?"

She walked into the room, and sat on the couch, studying the blue mutant.

"What's your name?" he asked curiously.

"Lexiss," she replied, sitting back and crossing her arms.

"Ah, Calyspso!" the man exclaimed. "Yes, Ororo has told me all about you. I'm-"

"Secretary McCoy. I know who you are," Lexiss replied, nodding. Mr. McCoy smiled a little.

"Usually girls your age are more interested in boys and make-up and clothes, from what I hear, than government and politics," he said with a slight chuckle.

"I think it's fair to say that I'm not like most girls my age, Mr. McCoy," Lexiss said, the faintest signs of a smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth. Mr. McCoy's chuckle turned into a deep, booming laugh that only lessened to a wide smile when the door to the professor's study opened again.

"Hank?" Storm asked, leaving the professor's wheelchair to greet him.

"Ororo, Charles!" Mr. McCoy said, taking steps forward as well. He and Storm exchanged a friendly hug.

"I love what you've done with your hair!" Storm exclaimed. Lexiss looked away from them, her grin gone.

"You too," Mr. McCoy returned.

He turned to look at Xavier, who said, "I see you've met Lexiss." Storm turned and threw an inquiring look her way. She ignored her.

"Ah, yes. Our conversation was most refreshing, I must say," Mr. McCoy said, throwing an approving smile in her direction. "But, Charles, thank you for seeing me on such short notice."

Professor Xavier rolled forward in his chair. Lexiss figured that was her cue to leave, but as she stood, the professor looked at her. "I believe you may be interested in what Hank has to say, Lexiss," he said. She sat back on the couch.

Xavier looked to Mr. McCoy again. "Henry, you are always welcome here. You're a part of this place," he said. Mr. McCoy nodded.

"I have news," he said.

"Is it Eric?" the professor asked immediately. If he was asking, he didn't know why Mr. McCoy was there, just that it was important.

"No," Mr. McCoy said reluctantly, "though we have been making some progress on that front. Mystique was recently apprehended." Lexiss sat up straighter, immense relief and satisfaction rushing through her all at once, but before she could say anything, Logan entered the room and stopped, staring at Mr. McCoy.

"Who's the furball?" he asked, glancing between Lexiss and him. Mr. McCoy straightened.

"Hank McCoy," he said gruffly. "Secretary of Mutant Affairs."

Logan walked further into the room, and sat next to Lexiss on the couch. "Right, right. The secretary." He gave Mr. McCoy the quick up down. "Nice suit."

Xavier began the introduction. "Henry, this is-"

"Wolverine," Mr. McCoy finished. "I hear you're quite an animal." Lexiss hid a slight smile behind her hand. Logan glanced at her, and nudged her.

"Look who's talkin'," he replied.

"You know Magneto's gonna come get Mystique, right?" Storm cut in, silencing their slightly egotistical banter.

"Magneto's not the problem. At least, not our most pressing one." Lexiss frowned. Mystique on the loose again was the very last thing in the world she wanted. If Magneto were going to free her, the government could lay a trap, and return him to his plastic prison. What could be more important than that? "A major pharmaceutical company has developed a mutant antibody. A way to… suppress the mutant 'X' gene."

Lexiss' jaw dropped. "Suppress?" Logan asked. Mr. McCoy turned to look at him.

"Permanently. They're calling it a cure-"

"WHAT?!" Lexiss said loudly, standing. Her thoughts immediately flew to Rogue, and then to John. "That's… that's…" Her outrage and her disgust kept her from finishing her statement.

Storm took care of it for her. "That's ridiculous," she said. "You can't cure being a mutant."

Hank tilted his head. "Well, scientifically speaking-"

"Since when did we become a disease? How can anybody in their right-"

"Storm," Professor Xavier said, drawing everyone's attention. "They're announcing it now."

Logan stood, and rested a hand on Lexiss' shoulder. She shook it off.

"This is the exact reason," she said, a familiar burning sensation in her eyes causing her to blink rapidly. "This is the exact reason John left!" she cried, shaking with fury. "People who think they know us, and make decisions like this for us are the exact reason he left!"

She started for the door, wiping at her eyes with the heel of her hand. Storm tried to reach out to her. "Lexiss…"

She turned around and stared at her. "Just stop it, Storm! Stop! You don't get it!!" She turned back around, wrenched the door open, and slammed it closed behind her. Storm sank down on the couch, head in her hands.

**- - - - -**

Lexiss stormed up to her room, and slammed her door with even more force than she had the door to Professor Xavier's study. She paced her room, not wanting to sit or lie down, trying to calm herself and holding her short, dark hair back from her face. She tried to take deep calming breaths, but only succeeded in nearly suffocating herself because she couldn't breathe.

Her cell phone started ringing and vibrating on her dresser. and her immediate reaction was to dive for it. Without even glancing at the caller ID, she flipped it open and held it up to her ear. Anything for a distraction. "Hello?"

The voice on the other end was immediately recognizable. "I found him."

She exhaled, gripping the tiny silver phone. "Where?" she asked breathily.

"San Francisco," Kurt replied.

"Where are we going to meet?"

**- - - - -**

By 6:30 that night, Lexiss had showered, dressed in dark clothes, and had her car keys. She left her room, closing the door behind her, and made her way to the first floor, and then to the elevator down to the garage.

She unlocked a familiar, dark blue Mazda parked very close to the automatic garage doors. One day, after Jean's death, she had gone to ask Scott to borrow it, and he had just given it to her, and wouldn't allow her to give it back. She sat in the driver's seat, closed the door, started the car, and opened the garage door.

It took her three hours to drive to Jersey City from upstate New York. Around 9:30, she drove her car into the parking lot of a dark storage facility she and Kurt had chosen as their meeting place.

Locking the doors with a beep and pocketing the keys, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and started up one of the aisles. The old yellow lights on the walls weren't much to see by, so she concentrated on her eyesight, and felt a small film slide down over her eyes. Now everything was clearer, and more defined, almost like it was daylight outside. Ahead, a small black puff of smoke appeared, and rhinestones glittered in the yellow light. Lexiss smiled, but it became more of a wry twist of the lips.

"Kurt," she said warmly, quickening her step and embracing him. His tail swished around as he hugged her in return.

"_Guten tag_," he said in his thick accent. As she stepped back, he looked down at her with those curious yellow eyes of his. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

She arched an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I?" she asked. Kurt merely shrugged.

"Alright," he said. "I can't do it all in one jump," he said.

Lexiss nodded. "I figured. How many trips will it take?" Kurt's tail twitched.

"Cross-country… nine or ten, I think." Her throat involuntarily tightened, but she forced herself to breathe, and looked at her watch.

"We have twenty minutes until that meeting starts. Will that be enough time?"

Kurt nodded. "We'll be cutting it close, but yes, I think." She consciously kept herself from clenching her fingers. Twenty minutes of teleporting. The only thing that would be worse was flying or drowning, neither of which she preferred over the other. "Are you ready?" Kurt asked. She nodded. "Are you sure? You look a little pale-"

"I'm fine, Kurt. I just don't like teleporting, you know that," she said. Kurt bowed his head respectfully, guessing the reason of her sudden, unusual harshness. He took her hand.

"Ready?"

She squeezed his hand. "Ready." He counted off for her.

"One… two…" She took a deep breath.

"Three."

**- - - - -**

A few seconds later, Lexiss' Converse hit wet pavement, and she gasped for air, hand to her throat. She didn't recognize the street, or any of the surrounding buildings. Already she was out of her comfort zone. Trip One.

"One, two, three." Blackness. No air. Blackness. And then, sudden light. Lexiss and Kurt appeared under a streetlight on a dry, white sidewalk. Trip Two. She exhaled shakily.

"Are you alright?" Kurt asked. She nodded, brushing back her hair.

"Just keep going, please," she asked. Kurt nodded, and took a firmer grip on her hand.

Blackness. Grass. Three.

Blackness. Sand. Four.

Blackness. Parking lot. Five.

Blackness. Puddles. Six.

Blackness. Gravel. Seven.

Then Kurt took a break. Seven trips spanning states at a time took a lot of effort. His breathing was slightly labored. Lexiss squeezed Kurt's hand reassuringly.

"Just take your time," she said. He looked at her, and then there was blackness as she landed on a dingy, dirty street. Trash and old newspapers were blowing and stuck to the wet, cracked pavement.

"We're here," Kurt said, his breathing slowly returning to normal. She looked around.

"Are you sure he's going to be here?" Lexiss asked, taking a few steps forward. This time, Kurt arched an eyebrow at her. "Right. Sorry. In here?" she asked, pointing to the old church ahead. He nodded. As she started forward, though, he stopped her, and pulled her hood up over her head, almost down to her eyes. Then he pulled up his own.

"You are a very powerful mutant, Lexiss. And we wouldn't want anyone recognizing us, would we?" She shook her head, and followed him inside the building.

Probably close to 90 mutants were inside, listening to a man up on what an old stage. The low buzz of talking filled the air. Lexiss and Kurt positioned themselves at the very back, against the wall, keeping to themselves.

"This is about getting organized," the oddly-shaped mutant on the stage said, "bringing our complaints to the right people." Lexiss snorted to herself, and Kurt flashed her a white-toothed grin.

She took the opportunity to observe all the mutants in the room. They were all the same sort of mutant clique; dyed hair, tattoos, piercings. Rebels. Anarchists. Misfits of society. That sort of thing. She tuned back into the strange-faced mutant with his whimsical ideas of an understanding government.

"They don't understand what it means to be a mutant. We need to show them, educate them, let them know that we're here to stay." She sighed to herself.

"Sounds nice, doesn't it?" she asked. Kurt nodded slightly.

"If only," he replied. She smirked.

"They won't take us seriously-"

"They wanna exterminate us," someone from the crowd shouted.

"This cure is voluntary," the man on stage countered. "No one's talking about extermination!"

"No one ever talks about it," another strong voice from the crowd said. "They just do it." Lexiss shuddered, eyes frenziedly searching for the silvery head she knew the voice belonged to. It appeared from behind a half wall just ahead of where she and Kurt were standing. She involuntarily turned her face away and pulled the edge of her hood along with it.

"And you go on with your lives," Magneto continued, "ignoring the signs all around you!" A blonde head followed him, and although the last time she saw John he had brown hair, she could recognize that gait anywhere, even from behind.

Magneto led John up to the stage. He pushed the mutant who had previously been speaking back and left the stage open for Magneto. "And then one night, when the air was still and the night has fallen… they come for you." The mutant John had taken care of tried to speak up, but Magneto cut him off. "It's only then you realize, while you were talking about organizing and committees, the extermination has already begun. Make no mistake, my brothers. They will draw first blood." It frightened Lexiss how calm and still John was.

"They will force their cure upon us," Magneto went on. "The only question is, will you join my brotherhood and fight… or wait for the inevitable genocide?" Kurt leaned close to her.

"He speaks as if it shall be a holocaust," he said. Lexiss lifted her chin just slightly.

"I think he believes it will be," she replied.

"Who will you stand with – the humans… or us?" With that, he stepped off the stage. John obediently followed, and they strode through the murmuring pews until they were stopped by a few mutants. Lexiss started to take a step forward, but Kurt laid a very firm hand on her shoulder and stopped her. She put up just a smidge of struggle, and then relented when she saw John clench his hand and then light a flame. She saw a large black strap across his hand, and her heart sank in dismay. Apparently, as well as growing out of Xavier's school, he had grown out of the Zippo she had given him as well. She didn't even want to think of Trisha's ring.

"Can we go, please?" she asked Kurt, turning away slightly. He nodded, and Lexiss turned and started following him toward the door, all the while keeping the group of mutants congregated around Magneto – and, more importantly, John – in the corner of her eye.

One of the women, one with darker skin and long, glossy black hair, ran to the stage and back to Magneto in less that a second. They spoke for a few moments, and then, just as Lexiss and Kurt had reached the door, everyone turned to look at the two of them.

Lexiss quickly averted her eyes and pushed Kurt forward with such force he stumbled through the door he had just pulled open.

"What?!" he asked, wheeling around.

"We need to go now, Kurt! Now!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck. He didn't question her, and just as she felt the cells of her body disintegrating for teleportation, the church door banged open again, and she saw a shock of blonde hair.

**- - - - -**

John followed Magneto as he started walking back through the pews.

"You talk pretty tough for a guy in a cape," a male voice said behind them. John turned, and lit a flame in his hand.

"Back off," he said, stopping the Asian-looking man in his tracks. He let the flame die, and turned to look at Magneto while a… _voluptuous_ women began to speak. He looked her up and down, and approval clicked in his brain.

"If you're so proud of being a mutant, where's your mark?" she asked. Hers was arched across her cleavage and tattooed down her cheek. Her female companion, not so full but not as hot, had one on her neck, while the man who had spoken first had tattooed fangs beneath his lower lip.

Magneto took in some air. "I have been marked once, my dear, and let me assure you, no needle shall ever touch my skin again," he said, revealing the tattooed brand he had 'attained' at a concentration camp during the German Holocaust in the '40s.

"You know who you're talkin' to?" John asked. The fanged man looked at him, and hundreds of thin, sharp spikes popped out of his face and head.

"Do you?" he asked. John looked at him, and smirked.

"And what can you do?" Magneto asked the woman who had spoken. She turned, ran to the front stage, and returned in the blink of an eye. "Mmm. So, you have talents," Magneto said vaguely. She tilted her head in a challenging way.

"That and more. I know you control metal, and I know there's 87 mutants in here and none of them above a Class 3… other than you two," she said. She knew what she was talking about; John gave her that.

"And that girl leaving is stronger than both of you combined," she finished.

John and Magneto turned, and he just barely caught sight of the pale face peeking out from under a dark hood before she pushed her companion forward. He thought he saw the tip of a blue tail beneath the coat of the man she had pushed.

Barely glancing at Magneto, he took quick steps to follow her. He pushed open the door just in time to see the dark-haired girl, hood fallen, throwing her arms around the neck of her apparent escort and disappearing in a puff of black smoke. John stood in the doorway, staring in disbelief.

**- - - - -**

An hour later, John was settling himself behind the wheel of a sleek black sedan as Magneto sat in the passenger's seat. However, he didn't start the car.

"It was her."

Magneto exhaled. "We have a prison transport to catch up to, Pyro-"

"It was her!" he interrupted, slamming his fist against the top of the steering wheel.

"John!!" Magneto said firmly and in as loud a voice as he ever used. Clenching his teeth, John gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. "I'll not tolerate you undermining my authority like that again!" John sat in the seat, barely listening… but listening. "If it was her – IF –" Magneto reiterated when John tried to speak, "she obviously didn't want to see you considering she ran away from you."

"She was with that teleporter! Him and the rest of the _X-Men_ probably turned her against me or made her afraid of me or something!" he shouted. He put as much disdain into that single word – X-Men – as he could.

"Then there is no reason for chasing after her. Do you understand me?" Magneto said in a fierce, hushed tone of voice.

"She's a Class 5 mutant, she could-"

"She's no good if she's too afraid or too angry to use her power. Now, _do you understand me_?"

John waited as long as he thought safe or wise before sullenly replying, "Yes."

Magneto nodded. "Good. Now," he started, facing out the windshield and readjusting his cloak, "we have a third member of our party to reunite with."

**- - - - -**

Lexiss and Kurt teleported backwards to the gravel, and then to the puddles, and then to the parking lot, and then to the sand. There, she pushed away from Kurt and stumbled backwards, sitting down hard in the sand. It was a beach, she then noticed, bordering some lake somewhere west of New York and east of San Francisco. She bent her knees and rested her elbows on them, taking deep, slow breaths.

"Are you alright?" Kurt asked warily, taking a few steps closer to her.

"I'm fine… I'm fine…" she panted. "Just give me a minute. I'll be OK…" Her teleporting claustrophobia was combining with the realization John really had turned away from the X-Men, and had completely joined Magneto and this so-called Brotherhood of Mutants.

She sat on that beach for probably twenty minutes, hyperventilating into her lap while Kurt sat as a comforting presence next to her. Finally, sniffing, she raised her head and stood, helping Kurt up as well.

"Come on," she said, touching his arm so she could go back home. "I'm exhausted, I just want to go home and go to bed," she said with an attempt at a smile.

Kurt nodded. "Alright."

They finished the return trip, from the beach to the grass to the sidewalk to the street, and then finally back to the storage facility where they had begun. Lexiss yawned widely. "Do you want to come back to the mansion with me?" she asked Kurt as the two of them started walking toward the car. "Storm'll be there…" she added in a singsong voice.

He looked sideways at her. "Storm? Are you sure you're OK?" She nodded.

"I'm just…really tired, all of a sudden…" She leaned up against the hood of the car. He put his hand out.

"Give me the keys, please," he asked. Sighing, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the requested object with a jingle, and he walked her to the passenger's side of the car. Kurt opened the door for her, and she dropped down inside, barely remembering to buckle her seatbelt. He got behind the wheel and started the car.

The green digital clock came on in the dash, and it said 10:07. Lexiss started laughing dryly.

"What is so funny?" Kurt inquired. She pointed at the clock.

"All of that took only half an hour…" she replied with an almost delirious grin. Laughter fading into a sigh, she leaned back in her seat, head against the window. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was Kurt merging onto the highway.

**- - - - -**

Storm paced the front hall of the mansion, arms crossed, unsure of whether to be angry or worried. As of now, she was a compilation of the two. She turned and glared at Logan, who was sitting comfortably on the entrance hall stairs.

"How can you so calm? It's almost 2:30 in the morning!!" she burst. Rogue and Bobby were sitting on a small couch in the foyer a few steps to the right of the stairs.

"Lex is a smart kid, she's not going to get into trouble," Logan replied.

"Oh, she's gonna be in trouble when she gets back," she said. Angry it is, then. The professor was in his chair beside the stairs. He couldn't be of much help, however, because Lexiss had apparently wrapped a wall around her mind, as the professor described it, which would not let him through.

The five of them looked up when the front door clicked and started to swing inward. It revealed Kurt, with a sleeping Lexiss in his arms. He seemed a little startled to see the welcoming committee standing there.

"O-Oh… _Guten tag_," he said, bowing his head slightly. "I did not wish to startle anyone, so I used the front door," he said in explanation, his accent thick.

"Oh my God…" Storm breathed in relief. "Um, Bobby, can you take her-"

"Yea," Bobby said quickly, getting up and taking Lexiss from Kurt's arms. He and Rogue took her upstairs to her bedroom. Kurt bowed his head seemingly in embarrassment.

"I am sorry it took so long… I am not used to driving," he replied.

"Where were you?" Logan asked calmly, crossing his arms.

"I met her in Jersey City, and took her to San Francisco. She was looking for somebody, a boy named John. I am afraid I do not know him well from my last meeting with all of you. I am sorry I acted without your permission," Kurt said, abashed.

Storm hugged Kurt. "No, it's alright; thank you for bringing her back," she said warmly.

"Kurt," Professor Xavier said, rolling up to him. "Did she find John?" Kurt nodded. The professor's eyes grew more intense.

"Was he with anyone?" he asked gravely. Kurt nodded again.

"Yes, he was with Magneto, the man from last time. Him, I remember." The professor sighed, and a silence ensued that was broken many seconds later when Storm extended an invitation for Kurt to stay the night. Kurt respectfully declined.

"I have other matters to deal with; a cure to consider." Storm stared at him. "I wish you only the best," he said. Kurt put his hand on Storm's shoulder. "Please be kind to her; she is going through a terrible time." He looked around at everyone in the foyer. "I do not know about the rest of you, but I myself do not know how to help her."

**- - - - -**

**I love it when people talk about other people while they're sleeping. It's quite amusing for me to write. Anyway, please review, because I also love hearing what my readers think!**


	3. Chapter 13

**Do you guys want to hear a story? So, I keep my laptop on top of the piano in my living room, next to the chair I sit in when I'm on it. The cord that charges the battery got caught under one of the metal runners, though, and got cut up pretty bad, so when I tried to upload the chapter on Friday, a whole bunch of silver sparks shot out of it, and scared the living daylights out of me. So, now I have to order a new cord for 70 bucks.**

**Grr.**

**So, now I'm trying to run the battery down to nothing so the next cord can power my computer back up all the way.**

**Just another week, and another chapter, eh?**

**- - - - -**

_Chapter 3_

"The sheer mass of water that collapsed on top of Jean should have obliterated her completely," Professor Xavier was saying. "The only explanation of Jean's survival is that her powers wrapped her in a cocoon of telekinetic energy." Logan took a few steps forward to stand beside Jean's shoulder and the professor, who was bent over her, hands to either side of her head.

He and Storm had found her unconscious at Alkali Lake after the professor had sent the two of them there, seeming to sense Jean's mind that morning. They had also found Scott's glasses, which had been the first sign of him since two days ago.

Jean was under a blue quilted blanket, and she had three wires attached to her head; one to her forehead and one to either temple. "Is she gonna be OK?" Logan asked.

"Jean Grey is one of only two Class 5 mutants I have ever encountered, her potential practically limitless," the professor replied. "Her mutation is seated in the unconscious part of her mind, and therein lay the danger. When she was a girl, I created a series of psychic barriers to isolate her powers from her conscious mind." Logan stared down at Jean, absorbing what Xavier was saying. "And, as a result, Jean developed a dual personality," Xavier went on.

His eyes flicked up and over to him. "What?" he asked.

"The conscious Jean," the professor started, in what he must have believed was an explanation, "whose powers were always in her control, and the dormant side, a personality that, in our sessions, came to call itself the Phoenix, a purely instinctual creature, all desire and joy… and rage."

Logan was slowly beginning to anger. He was a big one for mutant rights, to give his opinions a general term, especially considering his background. "She knew all this?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"It's unclear how much she knew," the professor replied calmly. "Far more critical is whether the woman in front of us is the Jean Grey we know… or the Phoenix, furiously struggling to be free."

Logan walked around the bottom of the table to Jean's other side. "She looks pretty peaceful to me," he observed somewhat heatedly.

"Because I'm keeping her that way," the professor explained. "I'm trying to restore the psychic blocks and cage the beast again." Logan surveyed Jean's body.

"What have you done to her?" he asked disbelievingly.

Logan, you have to understand-" the professor started.

"You're talkin' about a person's mind here, about Jean!" he interrupted.

"She has to be controlled!" the professor countered.

"Control?" he asked angrily. "You know, sometimes when you cage the beast, the beast gets angry."

The professor stared at him condescendingly, as if knowing he wasn't competent enough to understand what he was trying to say. "You have no idea. You have no idea of what's she's capable," he said.

Logan shook his head slightly. "No, Professor. I had no idea what you were capable of!" he said.

"I had a terrible choice to make. I chose the lesser of two evils," he said, voice growing in emotion.

"Well, it sounds to me like Jean had no choice at all," Logan replied in an angry tone. He came to a sudden realization. "You said two Class 5 mutants." He knew who the other had to be, and it made him angrier. "The other one… Lexiss?"

The professor didn't reply. In fact, he avoided looking at Logan altogether. "Did you do this to her, too?" he demanded loudly and furiously.

The professor looked away. "I don't have to explain myself, least of all to you," he finally said, bending back down over Jean.

Looking back at Jean one last time, Logan left the room with one last remark. "You know, I think you're just afraid of someone being more powerful than you."

**- - - - -**

With a sigh, Lexiss opened her eyes, stretching luxuriously in the midday sun spilling into her room. She paused; midday?

Then, with a start, just like everyday when she first awoke, everything that had happened in the past few months came crashing down around her. The events from the night before especially made her not want to get out of bed, even though her nightstand clock read close to one. She rolled over, intending to press her face into one of her other pillows, and was surprised to see Annabeth, the 12-year old girl she mentored, laying there. She had been watching her back intently. Lexiss rolled completely over to look levelly at her.

"Are you OK?" Annabeth finally asked after the two of them had been watching each other for about a minute and a half. Lexiss blinked, and so did Annabeth, although it was a little more disconcerting with her strange eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Lexiss hadn't necessarily lied to Annabeth in the past months. She just didn't know much about what was going on. She was on the brink of becoming a teenager, it was a monumental age for her; who was Lexiss to ruin it for her with her own problems? Annabeth was beginning to get into boys as well. She was actually quite the little flirt…

"You've been acting weird ever since John left. I know you two were boyfriend and girlfriend, but break-ups happen, and he was bound to need to get away. You're a very pretty girl," Annabeth said seriously. "You twist the thoughts of boys and make them all… fuzzy. Just ask Damien."

Lexiss arched an eyebrow. "Still?" She nodded with a grin. "You're a very perceptive kid," Lexiss sighed.

Annabeth winked. "I make boys' thoughts fuzzy too," she said. She tapped her ears. "These help."

Despite herself, Lexiss barked a short laugh, snuggling deeper into her crispy white sheets and crunchy cream-colored comforter. Annabeth grinned, but then her face got serious again.

"But… John didn't leave because the two of you broke up, did he?" she asked.

Lexiss sighed. Annabeth was like family to her, and that earned her the whole truth, not just what she figured out on her own. "No, he didn't," she replied heavily. Annabeth waited. "He joined Magneto," she said quietly.

Annabeth frowned, and her eyes became stormy. "I never liked him," she said darkly. Lexiss smiled slightly, and rubbed the younger girl's hair.

The door opened. Rogue and Bobby were behind it. Lexiss looked back to Annabeth. "Can you excuse us, please?"

Annabeth's frown deepened. "Why can't I stay?" she said.

"Um, Annabeth?" Bobby said. She looked over her shoulder at him. "Colin, Dan, Jessi, and Dylan are looking for you downstairs." He ticked the names off on his fingers.

Annabeth looked back at Lexiss. "Gotta go." As Lexiss' jaw dropped, Annabeth slid off her bed and bounced out of the room.

Lexiss sat up, running her hands through her hair, and Rogue and Bobby closed the door. Rogue sat next to her on the bed after she had scooted over some, and Bobby sat cross-legged at the bottom of her bed. Rogue looked over at her.

"Are you OK?" she asked. Lexiss slid down in her sheets a little. "I wish people would stop asking me that," she said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself.

"You're acting a little… reckless… lately," Bobby said carefully.

There was silence for a moment or two, and then Rogue softly asked, "Did you see John last night?"

Lexiss turned her face away from Rogue to look at her nightstand, where she picked up her picture of John. She studied every inch of it, as if to etch it permanently into her memory.

"We miss him too, Lexiss. You don't have to go through this alone," Bobby said.

Lexiss sniffed, and wiped her eyes. At some point, she had started to cry. Maybe because Rogue was tearing up as well. During this whole time, she had never thought Rogue and Bobby would be going through sadness at his abrupt departure either. She just always assumed they were angry with him for changing sides.

Lexiss wiped her eyes again, and turned to hug Rogue. It was safe to do so because today she was wearing a black turtleneck sweater. "I'm really sorry, you guys," she sobbed as Rogue wrapped her arms around her and began to cry as well. "I didn't… I didn't realize-" She hiccoughed, and Bobby moved closer to the two of them, resting a hand on Lexiss' shoulder and rubbing Rogue's back.

The girls sat there and cried for close to five minutes, with Bobby being the male presence to comfort them. John would've laughed at that two months ago.

Once Lexiss and Rogue managed to calm themselves, Lexiss slid out from beneath her covers, and Rogue turned into Bobby's chest. Lexiss wiped her face, and put the picture back on the night stand.

"Yea. Yea, I did see John last night. I didn't talk to him, and I don't think he knew who I was when he came after me, but…" She sighed shakily. "He… he was with Magneto. They were recruiting mutants for a… a Brotherhood of Mutants, I think."

Bobby looked at her. "So he's-"

"He's not coming back, Bobby."

Rogue wiped some mascara that was starting to run from underneath one eye. "You should probably tell somebody about Magneto," she said. Lexiss climbed off the bed.

"Not yet," she said. "There's something that needs to get done, and I think we should all do it together." She started opening her dresser drawers, looking for clothes to wear that day.

"What?" Bobby and Rogue asked in unison. Lexiss looked over at them.

"We need to pack up John's room."

**- - - - -**

Lexiss, Rogue, and Bobby spent two depression-filled hours putting everything of John's into cardboard boxes and plastic storage totes. While the three of them had come to the point of being able to pack away his things, Rogue and especially Lexiss weren't ready to throw anything away yet. Bobby, on the other hand… Well, perhaps Lexiss wasn't as mistaken in her original 'anger' assessment as she had thought.

As Lexiss was stripping the sheets off of John's bed, a cold voice spoke from the doorway. "Lexiss," Storm said. "We need to talk." Beckoning Lexiss with a crook of her finger, she turned in the direction of her room.

"Don't forget about Magneto," Rogue whispered as Lexiss passed her. She nodded slightly, and followed Storm down the hall into her bedroom. Storm closed the door behind her.

"Where were you last night?" she asked coolly, crossing her arms. Lexiss sat on her bed. She was still incredibly angry with her. She had had no right to throw an extra loop into the emotional rollercoaster she was already experiencing already. That was just cruel.

"Since when do you care what happens to me?" she replied in a voice just as cool. Storm pointed a finger.

"Lexiss, that is not fair-"

"Oh, you're going to preach to me about fairness, now?" she shouted. "Was it fair for a fake John to attack me in the Danger Room? Was that fair?"

Storm tried to get in a word edgewise. "You're right, and I'm sorry, but-" Lexiss stood up, not done with her speech yet.

"You want to know where I was last night? I was out looking for John, since no one else seems to care where he is or if he's hurt, or anything! And do you know what I found out? Magneto's building an army of mutants for his cause against the cure." Lexiss stood up and started for the door, at the last second twisting her neck to look over her shoulder.

"You know, ever since Jean died, you've seriously gone off the deep end." She turned back, and, with hand on the doorknob, Storm spoke.

"Jean's alive." Lexiss froze.

"What?" she said quietly.

"While you were asleep this morning, the professor sensed Jean's mind at Alkali Lake. Logan and I flew up there in the jet, and found her. Scott's missing, now, as well."

Without replying, Lexiss bolted out of Storm's bedroom, leaving the door to swing slowly behind her.

**- - - - -**

Lexiss tapped her foot impatiently in the elevator. Now that she thought about it, she could suddenly sense Jean's thoughts again too. They were buzzing and erratic, but that was to be expected, she assumed, reawakening after an experience that should have killed her.

The elevator was moving too slowly, for Lexiss' liking, so she commenced to repeatedly tapping the button for the basement on the panel mounted to the wall.

Finally, with a thud and a ding, the elevator reached the basement, and the doors slid open. Without hesitation, Lexiss started at a run down the hall. Rounding a corner, she ended up face to face with the very woman she was seeking.

"Jean!" she exhaled happily, throwing her arms around her neck. Jean's survival, against all odds, was a good omen. If Jean could survive all of Alkali Lake crashing on top of her, then maybe John would decide to come back, and everything would go back to the way it used to be.

"Lexiss," she said in a soft, surprised tone, putting her arms about her shoulders and stroking her hair.

"It's so good to see you," Lexiss said, relieved of all her pressures. Everything really was going to be alright, almost like a fairytale.

"It's good to see you, too, Lexiss," Jean said in the same soft tone. "Here, let me look at you." She stepped back, smiling. Jean laid a hand against her cheek. "He did it to you, too, didn't he?" she said, seemingly more to herself than Lexiss.

Lexiss' smile faltered. "What?"

Jean smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'll fix it," she said. Lexiss' smile dropped a little more. "Jean, are you al-"

Her hand tightened against Lexiss' face, and a burning pain shot through her skull. She might've screamed; she wasn't sure. Lexiss did know that she collapsed, however.

And that was the last time she ever spoke to Jean Grey.

**- - - - -**

With a groan, Lexiss awoke, sharply pulling her head off the cool metal floor, and regretting the move instantly as the pain behind her eyes swelled into her entire forehead.

Jean was gone, she noticed, as she slowly got to her feet. She didn't know for how long she had been unconscious. She stumbled sideways into the wall, and used it as a crutch to make her way down the hall towards the infirmary, hand to her forehead.

As her vision became clear and headache started to slowly fade to a dull throb, she saw the infirmary doors torn apart, seemingly smashed against the opposite wall. Straightening, she quickened her pace.

"Jean?" she called as loudly as her head allowed. She turned into the infirmary, and saw Logan facedown on the floor. "Logan!" she exclaimed, moving quickly to kneel beside him. His jerked his head up suddenly, clearly confused.

"Jean? Jean!" he said as he sat up quickly and turned into Lexiss.

"I think she's gone," she said, looking behind her as she heard more footsteps approaching. "She did something funny to my head, I think…" she continued. Logan looked at her, but before he could reply, Storm and the professor came in.

"What happened?" Storm asked.

"Uh… Jean woke up…" Lexiss said distractedly. She wasn't really sure what had transpired, only that her head was throbbing murderously.

"What have you done?" Xavier said stonily to Logan. Lexiss looked carefully between the two. Logan was breathing heavily.

"I think she killed Scott," he said after a moment. Lexiss' head whipped around to face him completely.

"What?" Storm asked, her tone surprised, to say the least.

"She would… She would never!" Lexiss said incredulously, wondering how Logan could even consider the possibility.

"That's not possible…" Storm added.

"I warned you," the professor cut through. Lexiss looked at him. He lifted his head, and closed his eyes. She could sense he was trying to figure out where Jean was. His eyebrows scrunched then, as if he were having difficulty doing so. But… that was impossible, unless…

"She's left the mansion, but she's trying to block my thoughts. She's so strong." Clearly there was a piece of the puzzle Lexiss needed to complete the whole picture. The professor lowered his head, and opened his eyes. "It may be too late," he said. "We need to get her, and bring her home. I think I know where she might be."

Suddenly, there were two Professor Xaviers. Blinking rapidly and shaking her head clear, she stood up, supporting herself on the nearby hospital table. "I want to go with," she said, rubbing her temple. Lexiss _had_ to go with. Her whole future hinged on Jean.

The professor looked at her, and then seemed to see her for the first time. "Lexiss, did you speak with Jean?"

Lexiss nodded. "Yea, she-"

"Not now! We have to go get Jean before she hurts someone else!" Logan shouted.

Storm nodded. "He's right." The professor's eyes bored into Lexiss.

"You can't come. I need to speak with you when I return, and can't risk that by anything that might happen. Please wait in my office." Then he turned away from her, and she knew she had been dismissed. She made a sort of strangled noise, a compilation of bitter disappointment that she would not be able to accompany them and great anticipation of Jean's return.

Hand to her head, she walked slowly out of the infirmary, intending to get a bottle of aspirin, some soda, and then to wait obediently in the professor's office for the triumphant return of her life to normalcy. Nothing could mess this up for her now. Not a thing.

**- - - - -**

Three hours later, the professor's door opened, and Lexiss turned away from his bookcase with an expectant look. Logan entered first, looking sweaty and dirty. She saw Storm second, possibly looking worse than Logan.

"Where's the…" The question died on her lips as she saw the empty wheelchair Storm was pushing in. Now the lines of 'clean' skin on Storm's cheeks made sense. Lexiss raised a trembling hand to her face in horror.

"Oh God… Oh God, no, no, that's no possible… That's not possible!" she gasped, body heaving as so tried to breathe deeply. "That's… that's not possible!"

Logan wrapped her in a hug. "It's not pos… What about Jean?" Lexiss managed to choke out. She felt Logan shake his head.

"It was her," Storm said haltingly, wiping her face. Lexiss pulled away from Logan.

"It's not right… It's just not right!" she said thickly, wiping her eyes. She brushed past Logan and Storm to leave the room. She needed to find Bobby and Rogue.

**- - - - -**

The funeral service was held the next day, under a bright sun and a clear blue sky. A monumental gravestone with the professor's likeness mounted on the front in a silvery-bronze metal was made by the students and set in the largest garden of the estate, just in view of the castle-like top of the mansion Professor Xavier had built for the young mutant population with no where left to go. While the mansion was his legacy, his headstone, Lexiss knew, would be a place of solace for years to come. A small pyre was burning at the foot of the headstone, and Storm was speaking, eyes full of tears, to a congregation garbed entirely in black.

"We live in an age of darkness…" she was saying. "A world full of fear, hate, and intolerance." Lexiss was sitting beside Rogue, holding her hand. Her other hand was in Bobby's, as was to be expected. "But in every age, there are those who fight against it," she continued. "Charles Xavier was born into a world divided; a world he tried to heal… a mission he never saw accomplished." Her voice wavered a little. "It seems the destiny of great men to see their goals unfulfilled."

Logan appeared at a balcony to Lexiss' left, she noticed, thanks to a nudge from Rogue. "Charles was more than a leader, more than a teacher. He was a friend. When we were afraid, he gave us strength. And when we were alone, he gave us a family." Lexiss turned back to face Storm, whose voice was growing shakier by the second. This must be extra hard on her, Lexiss dimly realized through her cocoon of numbness. Storm had been one of the professor's very first students.

"He may be gone," she said, "but his teachings live on through us, his students." There was slight movement to her right, and Lexiss noticed Bobby take the hand of a silently crying Kitty. "Wherever we many go, we must carry on his vision," Storm said in a quieter tone. "And that's a vision of a world united."

Logan went back into the mansion as everyone stood. Rogue pulled Lexiss along with her as she started forward. She fell in step behind her with her own white rose to lay on the professor's tombstone.

**- - - - -**

That night, Lexiss disobeyed Storm's request that everyone remain in their rooms. She needed to get out of the mansion, away from… just all of it. John's boxed and empty bedroom, her heated arguments with Storm, the growing divergence between Bobby and Rogue she knew was arising about Kitty, Jean's sudden destructive and evil second personality, and, to top it all off, Xavier's death. Her life was so out of control she wasn't even hanging on by her fingernails anymore. What surprised her most, though, was how calm she was.

Logan passed, heading inward from the front door, and ruffled her hair, interrupting her thoughts for just a moment. Maybe too many things had happened for her to react at all anymore. She wasn't at all shocked to see Rogue had had the same idea as her. Great minds do think alike. She was just standing in the entrance hall.

"Hey," Lexiss said, waving with her keys.

"Hey," she said faintly.

"I'm going out," Lexiss said. "Need a lift?"

Rogue laughed softly. "Logan just asked me the same thing…" She suddenly got serious. "I think you should know, Lex…" Lexiss tilted her head slightly, waiting. "I'm… I'm getting the cure."

Lexiss could feel her face harden. "Why?" was all she asked. Rogue opened her mouth, but Lexiss raised a hand, stopping her. "Nevermind; I think I can guess. But Rogue… if you're doing this for Bobby, I swear I'll-"

"No!" she exclaimed. "No, it's not for Bobby. I'm doing this because _I_ want to," she said.

Lexiss nodded hesitantly. "Alright. I'm the best friend, I'm driving." Rogue didn't argue, just lifted her bag higher.

"OK," she said.

**- - - - -**

Now, the day after the professor was laid to rest, there was a decision to be made. Would Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters remain open… or, as Mr. McCoy suggested, "Perhaps it's best that it end with him. We'll have to tell the students they're going home."

Lexiss sat up on the cushion next to him. "Mr. McCoy, I don't mean to offend, but you haven't attended this school for a long time." The blue politician bowed his head in respect to what she was saying.

"And besides," Bobby piped up from across the room, "most of us don't have anywhere to go." That reduced the room to silence. "I can't believe this," Bobby went on. "I can't believe we're not gonna fight for this school." Lexiss shot a look at Bobby. "Most of us aren't going to fight…" he corrected.

Suddenly, a tall man appeared in the doorway of the professor's study. He had bright blonde hair, and was dressed in very nice clothes. In his right hand he carried a bulging duffel bag. Lexiss glanced at Storm, and then back at the man.

"I'm sorry, I know this is a bad time," he said. At least he wasn't totally rude, Lexiss decided. "I was told that this was a safe place for mutants." She looked back at Mr. McCoy, eyebrow arched.

"It was, son," he said.

"How can you say that?" Lexiss fairly shouted. The man in the doorway looked close to broken, as if the school had been his last hope. It probably was.

"And it still is," Storm suddenly said. Lexiss looked at her. "We'll find you a room," she added. Bobby's head whipped around at her, and Lexiss swallowed.

"There's only one that's ready," she said robotically. Storm looked at her with such sympathy.

"Hank," she said, not averting her gaze, "tell the students the school stays open." Finally breaking her gaze with Lexiss, she looked to the man. "I can show you the roo-"

"No," Lexiss interrupted, watching the man look back and forth between her and Storm as if watching a tennis match. "I'll do it," she said.

"Lex," Bobby tried to interject.

"No, Bobby," she said, loudly and more forcefully than before. "I have to do this."

Storm nodded after a moment. "Alright."

**- - - - -**

Lexiss closed the study door firmly behind her, and started leading the man up the stairs. He didn't look that much older than her, perhaps by a few years.

"The room," she began, "is on the third floor, by the teachers and the rest of the faculty. I hope you don't mind." The man was a few steps behind her.

"No, it's fine," he replied. "My name's Warren, by the way," he added. "And you're… Lex?" He was trying to be friendly.

"Lexiss," she corrected. Warren nodded, and then fell silent.

When they got to John's room, she rested a hand on the door handle for just a second before twisting it and pushing into the room.

She stopped, just five steps into the room. Stacked up against the closed closet doors were the three boxes and two Rubbermaid totes she, Rogue, and Bobby had packed. She had thought they had been moved out, put somewhere, but clearly she was wrong.

Warren had set his bag on the bed, and was now carefully watching her. She ran her hand through her hair and started forward. "Um, I'm really sorry about this, I didn't know they were still here," she said quickly, starting forward and grabbing a box off the top.

"Do you want some help?" Warren asked, stepping hesitantly forward.

"No," she replied immediately, using her powers to levitate the other two cardboard boxes. The stab of her headache returning stronger than ever caused her to wince, and made Warren's facial expression change to one of concern.

"Are you su-"

"I'm fine," she replied a little testily. She turned toward the door. "Just… unpack, and welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." Her greeting ended with a strangled, emotional sound.

**- - - - -**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The cord thing shouldn't interfere with me putting the chapter up next week, because I ordered it for two-day delivery. So, I'll see you all next week. Until then, please review!**


	4. Chapter 14

**I've got my cord, and you've got another chapter, so congrats to us both, right? Right.**

**- - - - -**

_Chapter 4_

Lexiss' bedroom door banged open. She groaned.

"Lex. Lex, Piotr said Rogue left. Do you know where she is?" said a frantic-sounding Bobby. With her back to him, she put a hand over her shoulder, controlling the air so it thickened around Bobby's legs and started to pull him out of her room.

She suddenly heard the distinct sound of ice crackling. Remotely curious, she rolled over to look at Bobby. He had frozen his own legs to the floor to keep from being unceremoniously tossed from her bedroom. Clearly, he wasn't leaving without a few of her guarded answers.

"What do you want, Popsicle?" she asked tiredly, focusing all of her energy to keeping her eyes opened and trained on Bobby so she would at least look like she was paying attention. She was seriously exhausted today.

"Where's Rogue?" he asked forcefully. "I know you know where she is. She doesn't do anything without consulting you first." Lexiss yawned, and waved a hand.

"What, you just noticed she was gone? Huh. You must've been too busy making Kitty _feel_ better," she said disdainfully, closing her eyes. Rogue had told her about the ice skating incident in the car. "Now, unstick yourself from my floor and get out."

Bobby snarled – actually _snarled_ – and then Lexiss heard a _sssshthunk_ kind of sound. Opening an eye, she saw Bobby had launched several 'ice daggers', as he called them, at her, all of them about six inches in length. Two had stuck in her mattress near her stomach, and three more quivered in her headboard.

Lexiss sighed. Rogue hadn't technically sworn her to secrecy, and she wasn't stupid enough to deal with the Iceman when he was in a mood. On these kinds of days, when his life was far from Abercrombie-perfect, he could be as unpredictable as John.

With a sudden sharp intake of breath at the analogy she had just made, she sat up, rubbing her temples. "She went to get the cure," she said.

"How do you know?" Bobby demanded.

"Because I drove her!" Lexiss shouted, standing angrily. Just who the hell did he think he was, storming into her room and giving her the third degree like this?! "I was going out at the same time, I offered, she accepted, and I drove her!"

Bobby suddenly freed his legs, and in two short strides, had her upper arms in two simultaneous circulation-cutting grips. "Where?" he asked, his voice thin, cold, and steely.

"I don't know, I just drove her to the bus depot!" Lexiss shouted in his face. They glared each other down for a moment, and then Bobby turned, roughly dragging her with him. "Let go of me!" she said, trying to pull her arm free.

"No. We're going to go get her," Bobby said, more to himself than her, she thought.

"What if I don't want to go?" she asked, probably with more cockiness than the situation warranted.

Bobby's iron grip tightened. "You drove her; now you're going to help me find her, and bring her home."

**- - - - -**

This was one of the many situations in which Bobby was glad he was taller than average. It meant he was able to see around people.

He had stopped shouting Rogue's name fifteen minutes ago; nothing could be heard over the crowd's chants of, "We don't need a cure! We don't need a cure!" He hoped Lex was having a better go of it than he was.

He knew this wasn't her fault, but he had needed a release for his emotions, and she had proved the perfect outlet two hours ago. He made a mental note to apologize to her later, after he had taken Rogue home.

God, how could Rogue be so stupid?! She didn't need this, what was she thinking?! The only thing he had been able to pry out of Lexiss on the way to the nearest clinic was 'Kitty' and 'home wrecker', and after that, Rogue's slam from earlier that week about him only having only one thing on his mind kept playing itself over and over in his head.

He thought he might be sick.

Instead, he nearly crashed into the person he had least expected to see at a cure clinic, or ever again.

"Gettin' the cure so you can go back home to Mommy and Daddy?" Pyro said over the crowd. Pyro was who he was, now; he had no other name. The way he had hurt everyone when he just up and left, him and Rogue, and especially Lex, he didn't deserve a name. Bobby wanted punched him. He wanted to freeze him to the spot. There were a million things he wanted do. Instead, he answered him.

"I'm lookin' for someone," he said, eyes sweeping back over the mass. Perhaps he told him because maybe, by some stroke of luck or fate or whatever, Pyro might've seen Rogue and might tell him where she was.

He was also aware that he was immensely glad he and Lexiss had split up. Pyro seemed to have turned her bipolar, and Bobby wasn't sure how she'd react to seeing him again after San Francisco.

"Oh, I get it," Pyro replied. "Your girlfriend." Apparently, he wasn't using names from the past anymore either. Just as well. "Figures she'd want the cure," Pyro went on to say. "She's pathetic."

Punching him was starting to look really good. But, Bobby decided to play his game, and throw it back in his face.

"Who says it's Rogue?" Bobby asked. "Maybe it's Lexiss."

Pyro's jaw tightened. "She wouldn't. She's better than that," he said through clenched teeth. Bobby shrugged.

"How would you know? You abandoned her two months ago," he replied casually. "Stuff like that changes a person, and two months is plenty of time to change."

He watched Pyro's hand open at his side, a flame appearing there. His own fist clenched, hardening until it was as solid as a block of ice. Pyro chuckled dryly, but no amusement reached his eyes. "Come on, Iceman," he egged. "Make a move."

Someone called Bobby's name, and his stomach plummeted. He forced his hand back to normalcy, and noticed, as he turned, Pyro's own flame disappeared. He knew Lex's voice had registered in his head.

"Bobby," she said, stopping in front of him. "I can't find her any… What's wrong, did you find her? Is she OK?" Bobby tried to make himself answer, but before he could string a coherent sentence together, Pyro opened his mouth, drawing Lexiss' attention to him.

"So it is your girlfriend," he said. Bobby turned halfway back to him, leaving a doorway for the shorter girl to see Pyro. Staring, she swayed, and Bobby grabbed her coat sleeve to make sure she wasn't going to attack Pyro or faint. A sidewalk brawl was the last thing this crowd needed to get them started. He ignored the little voice that told him he had been thinking about laying Pyro out.

"You… what're you…" Lexiss said faintly. Pyro put up the arrogant wall Bobby knew all too well was to hide the fact that he had been thrown for a loop.

"Hey, Lex," he managed to croak. "Miss me?"

Lex looked as sick as he had felt a few minutes earlier, and on top of that had a facial expression that looked like she had just been pushed to the ground and was now being pummeled repeatedly in the stomach.

"We're done here. Let's go, Lex," Bobby said. Surprisingly, she let him guide her in front of him and away from Pyro.

"Same old Bobby," Pyro called to his back. Lex stiffened, but he made her keep walking. "Still afraid of a fight!"

Only a few seconds later, there was a bright orange, fiery expression that made the crowd pulse back as one. Bobby and Lex whipped around to stare in horror at the burning clinic. Rogue could've been in there.

"John… All those people… Bobby, Bobby, what if Rogue-" Lexiss whispered. He turned farther, to look for Pyro, but he was gone.

"Ssh," Bobby said, rubbing her arms in an attempt to comfort her. "She wasn't in there, she'll be alright… Just trust me…"

**- - - - -**

Bobby drove back to the mansion. When they got back, it was dark. It was hard for Lexiss to believe the day was already over. She felt numb, like an emotionless shell of a human. A ghost of what she used to be.

"I'm going to bed," she whispered. Bobby watched her as she went upstairs.

Instead of going to her room, though, she went up an extra floor and knocked on Logan's door.

"Logan?" she asked.

There was no answer, so she went in. What she saw was an empty room, and that finally broke her completely. Too much, just too much had happened. "They're all gone…" she began murmuring hopelessly to herself. "They're all… gone…"

Lexiss found herself wandering out of Logan's room, and down the hall to the one person who was left, the one person who had tried to be there all along. The one person she had shoved away for something that now seemed so… trivial. Lexiss raised a heavy hand and knocked on her door. It opened almost immediately. She fell to her knees, suddenly sobbing fiercely.

"There'll all gone, Ororo, all of them!" she cried.

Ororo crouched down in front of her, taking her hands. "Oh, Lex…" she crooned.

"John, the professor, Rogue, Jean, Logan… There're all gone!" she wailed. Ororo helped Lexiss to her feet, slowly coercing her into her room and out of the hall, away from any prying eyes. Ororo sat her on the end of her bed, and knelt down in front of her so she could look her in the eyes. Lexiss came to a startling realization as she continued to weep.

"It's my fault," she said thickly. "If I had never come here-"

"No!" Ororo cut in suddenly. "Even if you had never come here, John still would've joined Magneto, Rogue would've gotten the cure, Jean still would've killed the professor, and Logan would have still gone after Jean. None of what's happened here is any fault of yours," she said firmly, taking her chin in her hand and forcing her to look up at her. Lexiss sniffed, and wiped her eyes with her fingertips.

"Yes it-"

"No, it's not! Don't you think like that!!" she said. "If anything, it's better you're here because everyone else has an extra person to turn to, although you're not much of a shoulder to cry on lately," she said with a small smile. Despite herself, Lexiss let out a little sputter of laughter. Ororo's smile grew a little wider.

"There, you see?" she said, fixing her hair. She nodded a little, and when Ororo hugged her, Lexiss hugged her back with barely any hesitation.

"Thank you," she whispered.

**- - - - -**

Warren was having trouble sleeping. Lying on his back in his new bed, arms crossed behind his head, he contemplated his situation.

He had spent the day exploring the school; it was massive, well-built, and had a very comfortable atmosphere. And yet, he hadn't been… satisfied. Something had been missing, and he was sure it wasn't just because of the general depressed mood of the student body because the founder of the school had passed away. No, that was too obvious. It was something a bit more subtle… he just weren't sure what. On top of that, he wasn't exactly happy with the way he had left things with his father, either.

Suddenly, he heard muffled sounds out in the hall, sort of like shuffling. He glanced at the clock, which read 10:58, past curfew for most of the school's inhabitants. Curious, he silently pushed back the covers, and crept to the door. Slowly turning the handle and pulling it open, he stuck his head out into the hall.

The girl he had met on his first day here, Lexiss, was sobbing in the middle of the hall, in the arms of the person who now seemed to be the leader of this estate, a dark-skinned, white-haired woman they called Storm. Warren half-hid his face behind his doorframe, silently watching.

"Oh, Lex…" Storm said comfortingly, holding Lexiss' hands in her own.

"John, the professor, Rogue, Jean, Logan… They're all gone!" Lexiss cried. He felt his face soften watching her, and his own heart was suddenly filled with incredible sorrow for her. He also now partially understood Lexiss' strange behavior the day before when she had come upon the boxes in his new room. They must have been filled with the contents of one of the people she was missing so deeply.

Storm suddenly looked up the hall, and her eyes met his, causing him to recoil a little from the surprise of being seen. He felt like a little boy who had been caught doing something wrong. Well, technically, he was spying and eavesdropping, but…

Storm shook her head just slightly, which he took as an indication that he was to tell no one what he had just seen, as he watched her escort Lex into her room. He nodded just as slightly in return to tell her he would obey. Even if he hadn't been warned by this formidable woman, he wouldn't have told anyone anyway.

As Storm's door closed, Warren backed into his room. All the emotional strain those five missing people seemed to have left for Lexiss to deal with when they had gone must have finally worn her down. As he returned to his now cold bed, he decided he would make an effort to reach out to Lexiss in the days ahead in which he would be residing here. Warren had never seen anyone look so broken since the day his father had found out he was a mutant. He wanted to see her happy.

**- - - - -**

Ororo awoke Lexiss the next morning, shaking her rather abruptly, which was a change in demeanor from the night before, as she remembered it. "Lexiss, Lexiss!" she said in a rushed and harried way. Lexiss sat up, realizing she must have slept in Ororo's bed last night. Idly, she wondered where the other woman had slept. She rubbed sleep out of her face.

"What? What's going on?" she mumbled groggily. The clock on the nightstand had red digital numbers that red 11:54 a.m. This was the first time, she realized, she had awoken without a thousand pounds of guilt and sorrow. The realization didn't make that statement any less true. It was… nice.

"Logan found Jean," Ororo said. "She's with Magneto. They're moving on Alcatraz." Lexiss bolted out from under the blankets.

"They want control of the cure?" she asked, untangling her foot from the bed sheets. Ororo shook her head.

"They want to destroy it."

Lexiss stared at her. "But isn't the cure a mutant boy? A kid?!" she exclaimed.

"That's why we need to move, now. Get your suit," Ororo replied. Lexiss ran to the door, not needing to hear Ororo's next instructions to, "Run!"

**- - - - -**

Lexiss quickly pulled on her red-lined X-Man suit, glad to be feeling well enough to put it on again. She hadn't gone to another Danger Room session since the John incident.

John.

She pulled her hand away from the back of her head after putting her hair up in a messy bun, staring straight into her mirror.

She was an X-Man. That's who she was. John was a member of Magneto's Brotherhood. That's who he was. They were on opposite sides, and that's how it was going to have to be from now on. That's how they were going to meet. And odds were that somebody on her side was going to end up fighting him, maybe even Lexiss herself. He might end up hurt. But he might end up hurting one of her own, again, maybe even her, and that's how she had to look at it now. Her team – her family – was her first and utmost priority.

Lexiss looked over at her shoulder at her nightstand. With sudden determination, she took the four steps to get there, picked up the facedown frame, and carefully pulled out the back. She removed John's picture from it, and looked at it one last time. She smiled slightly.

"So, I guess this is goodbye," she said to herself. Turning toward the door, she let the picture fall from her hand into the wastepaper basket.

**- - - - -**

Lexiss met the rest of the group down in the lower levels, outside of the jet's garage. Logan and Mr. McCoy were talking as they came up the hallway.

"I don't believe this once fit me," Mr. McCoy was saying, tugging on small, short-sleeve X-Man coat with yellow stripes on the short sleeves. Logan wasn't listening.

"If Magneto gets a-hold of that cure, there will be no stopping him," he said. Mr. McCoy became all business, letting his arm swing at his sides and allowing the short coat to bare his blue-haired torso.

"Can you estimate how many he has?" he asked.

"An army," Logan replied forebodingly. "And Jean."

Mr. McCoy sighed. "His powers have limits; hers… do not."

Bobby spoke up. "There's only seven of us, Logan." Lexiss glanced over at Kitty, who was shifting her feet nervously. Logan zipped his gloves, and glanced at Ororo. His eyes passed over Bobby, Piotr, Kitty, and Lexiss in turn.

"Yea," Logan replied in a sinister-sounding tone. "We're outnumbered. I'm not gonna lie to you." He stepped up in front of the group. "But we lost Scott. We lost the professor. If we don't fight now, everything they stood for will die with them." Lexiss' hand tightened into a fist, and she felt her face harden. That couldn't happen; their beliefs were hers as well. Logan shook his head slightly. "I'm not gonna let that happen."

Lexiss shook her head as well. "We can't," she said firmly. Ororo looked at her with a small smile.

Logan looked from her to Bobby. "Are you?"

Bobby's lips pressed into a thin line, and he shook his head as well.

"Then we stand together," Logan went on, "X-Men." He turned to make eye contact with Ororo; Lexiss knew he was telling her they would be there as a team. "All of us." Bobby twisted his head around to look at Piotr and Kitty, and then down at Lexiss. She nodded just slightly, encouraging him. She knew he was thinking of Rogue, who still had not returned, and John. And probably her as well. He was worried. Everyone was. But worry didn't dissolve his morals.

"We're in," he said, looking at Logan.

"Let's go," Logan replied, approving of Bobby's answer. Everyone turned as Ororo opened the garage door. Logan stopped Lexiss, stopping her as everyone passed and went on.

"Can you handle this?" he asked. She inhaled, and nodded.

"I have to. There's no other way," she replied. Logan shook his head.

"That's not what I mean. Pyro's going to be there, and he's going to be fighting against us."

Lexiss looked Logan squarely in the eye. "Then we'll have to fight back."

Logan nodded once. "Alright. Get on board."

**- - - - -**

As the jet settled into its course to San Francisco, it did so silently. No one on board was speaking; all of them, including Lexiss, were wrapped up in their own thoughts. Personally, she was mentally preparing herself for what the seven of them were going to fall into on Alcatraz.

She looked out the plane window, putting a hand to her queasy stomach; she hated flying.

Something outside the jet caught her attention. Sitting up a little, she turned her head further to see back out the window. There was a large white bird flying fairly close to the jet. She squinted, frowning a little. That wasn't a bird, that was…

Warren?

She leaned so close to the window her face was nearly pressed up against the glass. She gasped softly as he looked up at the jet, at her, and raised his arm in greeting. Those long, white wings must be his mutation.

Lexiss smiled, and hesitantly waved in return. Warren started falling back. After all, there's no way wings could compete with an engine. She sat back against her seat with the smallest of smiles.

With the setting sun, he had sort of looked like a guardian angel following the plane.

**- - - - -**

Darkness had fallen over San Francisco Bay by the time the jet arrived.

"Oh, my stars and garters…" Mr. McCoy murmured from the front of the plane as he leaned over the controls, gazing out the windshield.

Piotr looked across the aisle at Lexiss and Bobby, who was sitting in front of her. "You're gonna want to see this," he said.

Lexiss felt the jet slow, and felt safe enough to unclasp her seatbelt. She crossed the aisle, and leaned over Kitty's legs to look out the window beside her. Now she understood why Kitty was murmuring a prayer under her breath. The Golden Gate Bridge had seemingly been… _moved_, for lack of a better word. Instead of running from one side of the bay to the other, the bridge began on one side of the bay, and curved around to end on Alcatraz Island's rocky shoreline.

"Goin' to stealth mode," Ororo said, flipping a few switches on the ceiling of the jet. Although nothing changed on the inside of the plane, Lexiss knew the jet was now invisible to anyone outside. Her stomach fluttered a little, and not from the flight.

Ororo set the jet down, and cut the engine. Logan turned to look at the rest of them.

"We've got a job to do."

**- - - - -**

The seven of them did make a grand entrance, if Lexiss did say so herself. Amidst the living hell Alcatraz Island had turned into, Ororo landed in a blaze of lightning bolts, Mr. McCoy, or Beast, rather, leaped off the top of the remodeled prison, Bobby and Kitty fell through the ground and leeched back up again, Piotr, with his skin turned to metal, landed waist deep in gravel and immediately trudged forward, Logan, claws extended, slid down the side of the cure facility with a shower of yellow sparks, and Lexiss floated down as gracefully as she could muster, arms extended and one knee bent, wind pushing her short hair back from her face. She touched ground between Ororo and Beast, jaw set in determination.

**- - - - -**

John saw her enter from where he stood beside Magneto. The three steps forward were subconscious; Magneto's firm grip on his forearm was the only thing that stopped him from taking more. Displeasure was etched so clearly across his face, there was no need for words. Instead, John turned to Callisto.

"You see them?" he asked her lowly. She nodded. "You remember that girl from the night we met?" She nodded again. "They're all fair game, except for her. Tell the others."

**- - - - -**

Logan began shouting orders to the ground troops and to the X-Men. "You men, cover the doors! Everybody, get together, and hold this line!" The battle seemed to have come to a standstill for a few seconds. Magneto's hordes of mutants stood in front of them, the government's soldiers stood behind them, and Lexiss and her six comrades held steady in the middle.

Breathing slightly labored from the adrenaline coursing through her body, she waited, and scanned the crowds in front of her. She didn't recognize anyone; that was good. No distractions. Those closer to the top must be behind with the big man himself.

_Only cowards fight from behind_, she thought.

Suddenly, Magneto's voice rang out in the silence. "FINISH THEM!!"

With shouts, his Brotherhood surged forward. Beast roared like a lion, and everyone else took battle positions. Logan lashed out with his adamantium claws, slicing down a light pole, and then they were swamped with enemies.

Lexiss didn't realize, as she started into the oncoming forces, but her mind had practically shut itself off to everything other than keeping herself alive and helping out her friends, when they were near and she was able. This must be what Logan called 'survival instinct'. She only wished the damn headache that had swelled behind her eyes would go away.

As she finished off a facially disfigured mutant with a ball of compressed, molten air, a massive man ran past Lexiss, nearly knocking her down.

"He's going for the boy!" she heard Beast yell from somewhere in the din nearby.

Kitty, to Lexiss' right, shouted in reply, "Not if I get there first!" and started off.

Logan, who was also close, turned and yelled, "Kitty!" Lexiss looked at him.

"I've got her covered!" Catching up with her and ignoring Logan shouting her name now as well, Lexiss caught Kitty's shoulder just in time for her to pull her into the building. Kitty glanced over her shoulder at Lexiss, smiled, and then they started following the monstrosity of a man down the hall. Together, the two girls leaped at him, and Kitty's power pulled him halfway down through the floor.

They hit the tile of the first level, looking up at his feet, when Lexiss saw a few mutants pass down the hallway perpendicular to the end of the one she and Kitty were standing in. "Go get the kid!" Lexiss told her, turning and running in the direction she had seen the mutants.

"Right!" Kitty called to her back. Lexiss had already turned the corner, and had muffled her footsteps so the three mutants in front of her wouldn't hear her following them. If they had sent that helmeted bozo after the mutant boy radiating the cure, there could only be one other thing these guys were after; the cure's inventor, Mr. President of Worthington Labs.

**- - - - -**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter. One more until the end of the installment! I wonder, is that good or bad?**

**Also, I've been receiving a record low number of reviews, lately, which is disconcerting. Now, I don't want to turn into one of those nagging author or anything, but I'm only asking because I truly enjoy reading what you guys write. So, please?**

**Thanks.**


	5. Chapter 15

**Hey, everyone. I hope you all had a great week. If you did, that's awesome. If not, that's not so awesome, and I feel for you. It was like this week lasted forever... Ugh, I thought it would never end. It wasn't bad, just long, I suppose. I've begun taking ACT prep courses three days a week before school, and then when I don't have extracurriculars going, I've got a ton of homework I'm up really late doing.**

**TGIF!!**

**Well, I suppose you aren't here to read this rather long author's note about things that have no effect on you, huh? On to the final chapter!**

**Oh, and there's an epilogue for this one that I'm posting immediately, so don't forget to read that as well!**

**- - - - -**

_Chapter 5_

One of the three mutants Lexiss was following, a girl with purple hair, split off wordlessly from the group and headed down one of the hallways on the second level of the building.

From somewhere on the other side of the floor, she heard rumbling. She hoped Kitty was alright.

Deciding it would be better to follow the bigger group, a male and another female, she silently trailed them down the next hallway. Ahead, she saw a much older man in a dark suit and an older woman in a white lab coat. The president of Worthington Labs and his assistant, no doubt. They would be the only people stubborn or stupid enough to remain in a building under siege by extremist mutants.

Once they saw the mutants coming toward them - Lexiss thought they might think she was one of the attacking mutants as well - they turned the other way. It was then she saw where the third mutant had gone; apparently, her mutation was camouflage, and as she stepped away from the end of the hall ahead, she shed her cover, and asked the two fleeing personnel, "Going somewhere?"

They were trapped between the three mutants. Lexiss hung back, confident she was close enough should anything drastic occur. The male in the group spoke up.

"You're the guy that invented the cure, right?" he asked.

The white-haired president replied, "Yes, I am."

There was a moment of silence, and then the tattooed guy simply said, "Girls?" The two strangely-dressed women grabbed Mr. Worthington's shoulders and started pushing him toward the next flight of stairs up.

"No!" his assistant cried, trying to follow him. "Don't! Don't hurt him!" she went on. The man caught her, stopping her from going further. Lexiss decided to step in; it was always easier to pick a group off one by one.

"Ssh…" the man was saying. "Calm down, calm down!" he murmured in a false voice. Lexiss didn't wait for him to go on. She quickly pulled on his shoulder to get him away from the assistant, and hit the side of his head with her fist with enough power to cause him to crumple to the ground. She didn't kill unnecessarily.

She turned to the woman. "Stay here, I'll come back for you," she said. Lexiss turned, and started running for the stairs to catch up with the two women.

**- - - - -**

Lexiss found them on the roof, leaning Mr. Worthington over the edge. "Don't!" he was yelling. "No, don't! Do-" He cut off with a grunt as he was pushed back too far for an old man's diaphragm to handle shouting. "Please, don't do this!" he gasped. "I only want to help you people!"

The two women turned, probably expecting to see their ally standing there.

Needless to say, he wasn't.

Lexiss brought the heel of her hand up to break the nose of the purple-haired woman. She shrieked in agony, hands flying to her blood-covered face and stumbling backwards off the edge of the building. Lexiss turned to face the other immediately. She was using her teeth to try and pull off one purple glove while holding Mr. Worthington's shoulder with the other, but Lexiss attacked before she even pondered her hair, which was gelled down in a loop over her forehead. A punch delivered to her face with inhuman power behind it pushed her to the far end of the roof and into the concrete barricade that was supposed to keep people from falling off the roof.

With deep guttural shout, however, Mr. Worthington, no longer supported by the woman's hand, slid off the building and started to fall. "NO!!" Lexiss shouted. She had one foot up on the barricade, ready to propel herself over the edge after him, when a blur of dark clothing and bright white feathers shot past her vision and caught him first. Her head snapped to the right, and a wide grin nearly split her face.

"Warren!" she shouted to him. He looked over his shoulder, acknowledging her with a nod of the head and a slight smile, and then put Mr. Worthington's arm around his neck and flew off. Glancing at the ground below, she remembered the assistant three floors below, and ran for the stairs to get back to her.

**- - - - -**

Lexiss ran into Kitty on the way back, and brought her to the quivering assistant. Kitty had the boy, whose name was Jaimie, with her.

"Miss," Lexiss said to the secretary hurriedly, "It's alright, Mr. Worthington is safe."

The assistant burst into relieved tears, throwing her arms around Lexiss' neck and sobbing, "Thank you, thank you," over and over into her shoulder.

Lexiss turned to Kitty. "I need to get back outside and see what's going on. Can you take her?" she asked. Kitty nodded. "Head for the jet," she told her. The two of girls started in opposite directions once more after she transferred the assistant to Kitty's arm.

"Hey, Lex!" Kitty shouted to her suddenly. She turned to see Kitty smiling at her. "Thanks," she said.

Lexiss grinned, and flashed her a thumbs up. "What are X-Men for?"

**- - - - -**

Outside, the chaos was growing, but it seemed the good guys were starting to get the upper hand. Sort of. They were still drastically outnumbered, but Magneto's mutants fought without strategy or even thought, it seemed, while Lexiss and the rest of the good guys each had a solid plan or attack structure in mind.

She found Ororo fighting with the woman she had seen at Magneto's first recruiting session when she had been with Kurt, with the chin piercing and the arced tattoo over her cleavage. They were fighting as though each had a personnel vendetta against one another. Ororo, however, came out victorious, frying the other women on a chain link fence with dozens of white and blue bolts of lightning. She looked to Lexiss, panting.

"Is the boy alright?" she asked as the younger woman fought off another mutant. This one she did kill, snapping the man's neck. It was that, or get strangled by a guy whose DNA seemed to have been fused with a boa constrictor's. Lexiss turned to Ororo, and nodded.

"Yea. Kitty's got him. They're gettin' out of here."

There was a sudden bright explosion overhead, and Lexiss looked up to see a car engulfed in flames falling down on top of her and Ororo. They grabbed each other's arms and ran back to get out of the way. They dived behind fallen barrels and other large wreckage to avoid the debris that flew off the car when it smashed against the ground.

Ororo moved over by Logan and Mr. McCoy when they arrived, and Piotr dropped down heavily across from Lexiss. She grabbed the collar of Bobby's suit and jerked him down beside her as he ran past. He fell with a grunt into her shoulder.

The two of them involuntarily winced as another car exploded overhead, and then they looked over at the team leaders. They were staring wordlessly down at a shattered cure cartridge that looked like it still held three good shots.

A burning car suddenly shot through their makeshift barricade, just a few feet from crushing Ororo and Logan. The two looked at one another.

"We work as a team," she barely heard Logan say

Ororo replied, "Best defense is a good offense."

Exhaling as her knees dug into the large chunks of gravel on the ground, Lexiss stuck her head up over the wreckage she was hiding behind. She hadn't realized until now how close they had gotten to the bridge. They were so close she could clearly see Magneto flinging cars into the air – and John, clearly lighting those cars ablaze.

"Bobby!" Logan shouted, grabbing Lexiss' attention and that of the boy next to her. "Think you can take out your old friend?"

Lexiss knew this time would come. John… versus everyone else. But now John, whom she cared so deeply about, was trying to hurt everyone else she cared about.

Bobby looked up at her, and she nodded firmly. No matter how she looked at it, six beat one every time. Bobby looked back at Logan, and nodded. Then, he ran out from behind the wall without looking back. He knew what he had to do.

Lexiss looked back out over the makeshift barricade again. Bobby stopped right underneath the path of a flaming car, put up both hands, and iced the hell out of it so it dropped down in front of him. Then he stood, waiting for John to come to him.

Satisfied, she dropped back down to listen to Logan, Ororo, Beast, and Piotr. She really wasn't sure who would come out of that fight the victor, but she hoped…. she hoped it would be Bobby. It only pained her a little to think that, but there was something much bigger at hand.

"Storm, we're gonna need some cover," Logan said. Clearly, he already had some sort of idea in mind.

"Right," Ororo replied, looking ahead to concentrate. Her eyes glazed over milky white, and swirling fog rolled over Alcatraz Island.

The X-Men were going to cure Magneto.

**- - - - -**

Pyro walked slowly in front of Bobby, the most confident and smug smirk he had ever seen on his face. No words were exchanged. He simply lit a flame in his palm, and whipped it at him in a long stream. Bobby quickly created enough ice, and met the fire right in the middle of the space between the two of them.

There was a small, hard pit in Bobby's stomach, though, and a small tidbit of knowledge in the back of his brain that kept biting at his insides.

He had never beaten Pyro in his life. Not once.

He tried as hard as he could to hold him off, but Pyro moved his arms to move the stream of fire and ice connecting the two of their powers, and it threw Bobby off. That gave Pyro the opportunity to overpower him. Bobby couldn't remain standing; just the massive force of Pyro's power over his as he stepped closer and closer forced Bobby to his knees.

"You're in over your head, Bobby," Pyro said. Flames rushed down around him, singeing the very edges of his suit. It was all he could do to keep the greater part of him from being burned. "Maybe you should go back to school," he added.

That made Bobby angry. Pyro the one who had left, he was the one who had screwed everything up. He felt ice creeping up over his skin.

Pyro wasn't going to win this fight, not after everything he had done. He was not going to win.

**- - - - -**

Lexiss couldn't help but to look over her shoulder. Elation and bile both rose within her. Bobby had won…

But what about John?

A thought reared in her mind. John was a criminal. He had attacked a government base with a band of extremist mutants. The feds would pick him up.

The thought somehow comforted her. Bobby had only head-butted him. He was still alive. Everything was going to be alright. No one else had died. Lexiss focused on the task at hand.

"Alright. This is it," Logan said. Bobby stepped up beside her. His entire body was coated in a thick layer of ice. Logan looked over at Piotr and his metal skin.

"Hey," he said, to catch his attention. "Make it a strike."

Piotr clamped down on the back of Logan's suit and his shoulder, and spun him around in order to build up momentum. He released, throwing Logan ahead at Magneto. He disappeared into the thick fog provided by Ororo. It was impossible to see anymore than that.

"We need to get out of here," Piotr said. Bobby agreed, and the boys turned away. Lexiss didn't follow, and they noticed.

"Lex," Piotr said, turning back.

"This could get messy," Bobby added. She didn't turn to look back at them.

"I need to stay," she said. There was a long silence, and they heard Logan shouting ahead. He sounded like he was in pain.

Then, with a crunch of gravel, she knew Bobby and Piotr were gone. They had left her to her own devices, trusting her. As soon as she heard their footsteps fade, she turned, and ran to where she had seen Bobby fighting John.

She couldn't stand not knowing. She had to check, just had to make sure…

She had estimated about right; she nearly tripped over John's collapsed form on the ground. Dropping to her knees, she reached forward, intending to check for a pulse, and paused. This was the closest she had been to John in a while. He seemed to have changed so much. He had gained a little weight; his face had filled out more, and was more chiseled and older, somehow.

Firming her resolve, she tugged on his collar a little, and placed two fingers against the right side of his neck. The vein in his neck was throbbing normally. She smiled, and as she pulled her hand away, saw a glimmer of silver. Her nimble fingers picked up the thin chain, and she pulled Trisha's ring out from underneath his jacket and shirt. The sight of it brought tears of relief to her eyes. He hadn't discarded it, but kept it close to him all along. Upon closer inspection of his hands, she saw he hadn't gotten rid of his lighter either, but had used it in the mechanism strapped to his hand that allowed him to create a spark easier.

Lexiss knew then she couldn't leave John to the government. Those were the kind of people he hated most. She also knew he wouldn't be welcome at the mansion, either, but that was better for both their sakes. That she had decided during the long flight here.

She draped his arm around her shoulders, and slowly got to her feet, struggling under his dead weight. She finally stood, her right arm gripping John's wrist, her other around his waist to try to even the load.

"NOO!!!" she suddenly heard Logan shout behind them. There were several more screams of men before they were suddenly cut off. Lexiss looked up, and turned, trying to hoist John's weight higher onto her shoulder. The fog in the near vicinity had started to clear, and she could see Jean atop a mound of wreckage. Lexiss watched in horror as she started destroying Alcatraz Island through her out-of-control telekinesis. She had never thought Jean could be so powerful.

"EVERYBODY GET OUT OF HERE!!" Mr. McCoy's dim shout reached her ears. Lexiss looked to where she needed to be, and where she was now. She couldn't trust teleporting; she could barely manage the feat alone, she didn't dare try taking someone along with her. The speed at which Jean was ripping apart the island meant that there was no way for her to get out with an extra body.

Ignoring this fact, she turned, and started pulling herself and John along as fast as she could. No thoughts were going through her mind; she was just focused on moving.

Everything was being ripped apart behind her, and there were so many people so far ahead of her. She hefted John up as high on her shoulder as she could, but she was straining under his dead weight. Bobby had certainly done a number on him; he was out cold.

All around her, mutants, male and female alike, were retreating, shrieking in terror. And for good reason; Alcatraz Island was literally disintegrating under the gaze of Jean Grey. Professor Xavier had once told Lexiss in confidence she had power to rival Jean's. However, the professor was dead. Jean had killed him. And if she wasn't strong enough to save John, was she really strong enough to do anything worth accomplishing?

The deafening sounds of turmoil were growing louder and louder and closer and closer. The only thing she was aware of was a growing fear in the back of her mind that she was going to die here and now. She kept moving. She had to.

"LEXISS!!" a voice shouted above her. She looked up. It was Warren. Oh, God, it was Warren. He was having difficulty flying because of all of Jean's destruction, but he was there.

"How can I help?" he asked once he finally stumbled down onto the ground. She carefully passed John over to him.

"He needs to get to safety. Can you do that?" she asked him. Warren looked straight at her, and nodded. "I'll meet you at the other end of the bridge. And Warren," Lexiss said, catching his arm. "Don't let anyone from the mansion see you." He nodded again. Then, wordlessly, he pushed himself into the air, John's arm around his neck just as Mr. Worthington's had been. The two were soon high in the sky.

She had taken too long with John; she couldn't run off the island now. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to take claming breaths. There was only one thing she could do. Lexiss turned to face Jean, watching all the destruction she was causing. They only other person who remained was Logan. He was approaching her.

Suddenly startled, she looked down at her arms. Her suit was starting to disintegrate. She winced and inhaled sharply as suit gave way to skin. Squeezing her eyes shut and hugging herself tighter, she felt her body get sucked into the void that came with teleporting.

She was alone, all alone in the darkness. It was sucking her tighter and tighter, squeezing all the air out of her lungs. Suddenly, she was in open air again, falling. She had panicked, and let go too soon. Now she was falling down toward the ocean. Somehow, it seemed like she had done this before. Water was suddenly splashing against her back as she fell. Wrenching her body around, she saw water actually rising up from the ocean. It had to be Jean's immense power.

Bracing herself, she held her breath and teleported again, forcing the image of the beginning of the Golden Gate Bridge into her head. Blackness… Oh God, she was never going to teleport again after this, not ever! Her stomach would be heaving right now if the void allowed for that much movement.

The space opened up again, and she dropped what she estimated to be two feet to the ground, onto hard asphalt. She laid there, groaning and gasping for air. Rolling over a little, she rested her forehead against the ground, coughing slightly.

"Lexiss?" a quiet, concerned voice asked. In the distance, she heard the creak and groan of metal, and the roar of water. "Lexiss," said the voice again, firmer than before. She was turned onto her back again, and a fine mist started to fall upon her face. With another groan, she slowly sat up, holding her head in her hands. Warren helped her to her feet, and her head cleared, slowly but surely.

"Thank you… for everything," she said suddenly, looking up at him. She saw John lying on the ground nearby, still unconscious.

A silver SUV with minimal damage was still running nearby. She went to John, hoisted him off the ground with Warren's help, and laid him out in the backseat. Warren wouldn't let her drive, but she relished being able to finally relax, as she did in the passenger's seat of the car.

"Just drive out of town as fast as you can," were all the directions she gave.

**- - - - -**

The motel was clean and cheap. The grey shades of dawn were starting to come through the window.

John was tucked under the yellow covers of the bed. Warren, or Angel, he had decided his mutant name would be, was waiting for her out in the hall. And she was sitting in a slightly hard, slightly uncomfortable chair, writing a Dear John letter. Literally. She was pretty sure she had decided on a final draft, after going through several sheets of motel stationary:

**John,**

**We haven't talked for a while, have we? I suppose we're both at fault for that. I guess there's not much for me to say now except how I feel.**

**I've tried to forget you, like Rogue is trying to do. I couldn't. And I tried to hate you, which I think Bobby might be starting to do. I couldn't do that either. I'm not Bobby, and I'm not Rogue. So that leaves me with me.**

**The only thing that's left for me to do is move on, like you've seemed to do. Everyone always told me I was too much like you. Isn't the saying, 'opposites attract'? Maybe that's another reason you left, that we were _too_ much alike.**

**Jean's dead, from what I can gather. I haven't exactly gone back to the mansion yet; it's only been a few hours since you fought with Bobby. I've been busy making sure you don't get arrested. I'm saving your ass again, aren't I?**

**But I am going back to the mansion. That's where I live; where else am I going to go? And you… I'm sure you'll find someplace, because… well, you just can't come back. You know that. I know that. Everyone knows that. Too much has happened since you've left, and you just happened to end up on the wrong side. But you've always adapted well. I have faith you'll be O.K.**

**So… that's it. I'm going to leave now, and you're going to wake up, read this, and move on, just like me. I'm sorry for any pain I might be causing you.**

There was a knock on the door, and she looked up as Warren poked his head in.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yea," she said as she signed her name at the bottom of the note.

_**LEXISS**_

She set the letter, unfolded, on the nightstand beside John's bed, barely hesitating as she did so. She looked forlornly at it, wishing there was some other way to communicate with John. But, judging by the welt on his head, he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.

But, it was strange. For the first time in the last few weeks, she was really, truly calm. She was at ease. She felt like this chapter in her life had finally finished, and she was more than ready to move on. She looked at Warren, and then passed him as she left the room.

"Let's go home."

**- - - - -**

Back at the mansion, headstones were erected for Scott and Jean beside the professor's monument. Warren had fully moved into the mansion, and into John's old room, and Lexiss felt nothing about it at all. It was just another room.

It was a truly amazing feeling.

Lexiss and Ororo were 'thick as thieves' again, and Lexiss was helping Ororo run the mansion as much as an eighteen year old who had just graduated from high school could. Mostly, it was just making sure the younger ones didn't act too wild.

And Rogue had come back. Her best friend in the entire world had returned, cured of the mutant X-gene. Lexiss didn't care; she loved her anyway. Rogue was like her sister, and it was her life. She certainly hadn't interfered negatively during Lexiss' mood swings in the past months, and she wasn't going to jump down Rogue's throat about her choice. Bobby seemed just as happy to have her back.

Mr. McCoy had also been instated as the new mutant ambassador to the United Nations by the president of the United States.

And Logan? Logan seemed to be OK. No one expected him to be as composed as he was – Lexiss sort of thought they might have been expecting another few months with another one of her. They were spending a lot of time together, and he seemed to be at peace with what he had done. He believed he had done what Jean had wanted when he had taken her life, and she believed him.

**- - - - -**

Lexiss was standing outside with Ororo one Thursday, a few days before the new school semester was to begin, greeting many of the Xavier school's new boarders. Jaimie, the boy who had been used to create the cure at Worthington Labs (Lexiss had found out Mr. Worthington was also Warren's father –_that_ had been a shocker), was one of the newest students. He had already fallen into Annabeth's crowd, and because of him, she now knew Annabeth had hazel-colored eyes.

Ororo looked over at her. "So… it seems like this is sort of a happy ending," she said carefully.

Lexiss considered what she said. "Well, Magneto hasn't been captured, but we know he's cured. And John hasn't been caught either, but…"

That was the one thing they hadn't told anyone about. It was an unspoken vow a silence between Lexiss and Warren. Warren, who didn't know about her history with John, and Warren, who had asked her to dinner.

She had agreed to go.

Ororo reached out and ruffled her hair. Laughing, Lexiss pushed her away, and replied, "Yea. I think we all turned out alright."

**- - - - -**

**Sweet deal! Alright, as usual, please review, and don't forget about the epilogue! I am planning on writing a fourth installment, but as it's a more creative endeavor, coming entirely out of my head, it isn't completed as yet. So, I've posteda poll on my profile to ask readers like you which of three fanfics you'd like to see posted next. Go check it out, and if one striles your fancy, submita vote!**


	6. Epilogue

**Until next time...**

**- - - - -**

_Epilogue_

Wherever he was, it was bright. So bright, his eyes hurt. That, compounded with the throbbing in his skull, immediately put him into a foul mood.

Memories suddenly rushed into him. Bobby. Oh, he was going to _kill_ that jackass. He tried to sit up, but the pain in his head just got worse, so he laid back, and had to be satisfied with opening his eyes.

He already knew he was no longer on the battlefield, and now he saw he was in a dingy room painted yellow, and on a thin, lumpy bed under a yellow sheet. With a grunt, he slowly turned his head, and saw a piece of paper with writing on it. Pulling a heavy hand out from under the blanket, he picked it up, focused his eyes, and started to read.

With a sudden snarl, he forced himself upright, swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and crumpled Lexiss' note in his fist.

It wasn't over, not by a long shot. He was St. John Allerdyce; he was Pyro. He didn't lose, and he wouldn't lose her.

He was going to get her back.

**- - - - -**

**Cue X-Men Theme**


End file.
